The Open Window
There is a sense of disbelief:
The window is wide open,
Your things are in disarray;
Drawers are open,
Turned out on the floor.
Intimate items scattered.
Someone has been here, in your room,
Past your defences.
And valuables are missing.
Money, money is nothing.
Memories, how do you replace memories?
Pawned for $20 in a bar somewhere.
Days weeks months later you go looking for something —
And can’t find it. Is it just lost? Or was it stolen?
You will never fully realise everything that you have lost.
Death is like that,
Like being burgled.
You never fully realise everything that you have lost.
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© J Cosmo Newbery 2012
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So true...and what is lost through death will never be found in a pawn shop; and it can never be replaced; the gap remains.
ReplyDeleteI've never experienced such... I can imagine the sense of intrusion... BTW I really enjoyed your interview. I didn't see it until yesterday... I haven't been around much this week.
ReplyDeletesuch a poignant write. I can see the parallel. "death is like that / like being a burglar."
ReplyDeleteDeath is indeed a thief. Thank you - this hit home.
ReplyDeleteWow, this hit me in the gut. Good comparison: "Death is like that, Like being burgled." I have never been burgled, but losing my son this year did feel like an invasion of my privacy as well as having my treasures stolen.
ReplyDeleteSo true. And our people wont know what they have lost until too late, too.
ReplyDeleteThe ending hit me like a gut punch! Never thought of death being similar to being burgled....but true. So much is lost that can never be found again!
ReplyDeleteOh yes a horrible experience and what a powerful lines :Death is like that,
ReplyDeleteLike being burgled.
A deeply felt poem. After reading the whole poem when we come to the first line again it strikes hard. Relatable. A very unique take on the prompt.
ReplyDeleteTo the mind, death feels like theft, but to nature, it is a beautiful part of the cycle. To have no death, is to have no life. This poem invites us to see it as an open window from which we can fly. The line 'past our defences' is key. Death intrudes on the human mind's illusion of control and has us re assess what is valuable. This poem offers the human shock and also the potential to see past the human ego. A deep offering. Thank you.
ReplyDelete"Someone has been here, in your room,
ReplyDeletePast your defences.
And valuables are missing."
Oh that twist at the end from personal property to life and death! Do we ever know what we lost? Brilliant.
The end was a shock. Great poem, J. We do find out what the valuables truly are.
ReplyDelete